The Mark Arum Show 07-15-26 HR 1

Welcome friends to the Wednesday edition, The Mark Aram Show, perhaps one of our biggest shows in recent memory, not hyperbole. A lot to talk about, a lot of cool guests. We've got great giveaways, including the grocery and gas giveaway coming up in an hour and six minutes-ish. You're going to get a chance to win our grocery and gaffed gift away. $100 grocery gift card, $150 gas gift card, and a free HVAC inspection from my palace at reliable heating and air. Deborah's got another prize pack to giveaway in the 1130 hour, seeing some legendary rock bands. Got some big news to cover. In just a minute, we're going to get the late. You heard Cheryl mention it, the Todd Blanche confirmation hearing to become attorney general. Political analyst Stephen Lawson's going to join us live in studio at 1035. Get us caught up to date on all things politics here in Georgia. And Woody and Kleinie, you might not know who they are. But your kids do. These, Deborah, these are two British dudes. They're like viral social media stars, like 15 million followers on social media. Yeah, crazy. Unbelievable. They're here in the United States on this 38-day road trip for the World Cup. They're in town. For the semifinal this afternoon at, as Smiley said, Atlanta Stadium. I don't know. It's the Benz. My mama called it the Benz. I'm going to call it. I know that's not what we're supposed to call it. But they're in town to see their hometown team, right? England taking on Argentina. Huge, huge match. I am not going. I have extreme FOMO that I did not. get to a World Cup match. I'm glad you did, though. That was most important to me. It was so much fun. I'm just so, because you're a bigger soccer fan than I am. And you, I'm glad of the two of us that you got to go for sure. But they're going to join us live in studio. I'm very excited to talk to these fellows. Before we get to the heavy news of the day, I want to share some heavy news that I didn't talk about on the air. I shared it with Deborah off the air concerning my sweet. puppy Soba. So she had been dealing with a persistent cough. Veterinary prescribed some anti-cough medicine didn't really help. So a couple of weeks ago, Deborah, I brought her back in and they did an ultrasound x-rays. And the vet was like, it looks like soba's got congestive heart failure. which is soul-crushing. My old dog Bosco had it, and it's not a great prognosis. You know, there's medicine to treat it. They prescribed medicine right away. But, you know, the...

Time frame, you know, the dog, and it's common with smaller dogs, congestive heart failure. They can have a life expectancy of two months or two years. Oh my gosh. With, and so it was soul crushing for it. And I didn't share it on the air. I told you and Deborah, Deborah and a couple of people. But the veterinarian at Treehouse Animal Clinic, full disclosure, they are my go-to vets. The doctor was like, you know what, we've got a specialist coming in. I want to run an EKG just to make sure we get everything right. So yesterday, at 8 in the morning, Maya is off for summer vacation. So she drove Soba to drop Soba off at the vet for this EKG. And they're like, we'll call you when we get the results and she's ready to pick up. So like 1.30 yesterday, I get a call on my cell phone from Treehouse Animal Clinic. And the doctor was like, here's the deal. We did the EKG. And I'm happy to report that Soba. does not have congestive heart failure. Oh, that's so great. I was like, what? She's like, yeah, it's actually bronchitis. Oh, which I mean, it's not good, but it's better, right? It's not deadly. It's treatable. So they gave her a steroid. And I was like, I'm like, I'm. Oh, that's so great. I know. And so the doctor was what she called me. She's like, is Maya there? I'm like, no, she's actually en route to the clinic. She's like, why don't you three-way her in on the call? And I was like, I don't know how to do that, doctor. I'm like, she's like, don't worry. I'll tell her when she got there. But I just gave Maya a heads up. I'm like, hey, vet just called good news. So was ready. So like I am walking on air. Like nothing could to go from, all right, we have, you know, preparing ourselves mentally for two months. at the least two years for the minimum maximum for to be sober our beloved little pooch to now going oh it's not congestive heart failure it's just bronchitis they're treating it like how great is that debor like i'm gonna that best i know i know i was so so thank you to the and and thank god they they asked they scheduled the EKG which isn't cheap, but, you know, it's sober, whatever, you know. Yeah, but if they didn't do that, we'd still be under the assumption. And just worrying and maybe even giving her the wrong medication. I know, I know. So I just wanted to share that. I didn't share it with you. I didn't want to make you sad that that soba had, like that's a death sentence, congestive heart failure. And we did it with Bosco. So just, I just wanted to share that news. I'm so excited. And what's so funny, I put a picture up in, My Instagram story at Mark Aram. Maya went. And we were worried that Soba would be in, like, a crate all day, whatever. No, Soba was in the vet's office, in a bed, wearing a yellow hat with her ears sticking out. Oh, really? And, like, slept the whole time. And the vet, the vet texts everywhere. Like, Soba was the best. So if you want to see Soba at. wearing this funky yellow hat. It's up on my Instagram story at Mark Aram. But anyway, I just wanted to share that good news. It's rare we get to share good news here on the Mark Aram show. All right. Let's go up to the Big Apple. Joining us from ABC News, our good friend Peter Haralambus. Peter, good morning. All eyes today. Senate confirmation hearing for Todd Blanche to take over the Attorney General's spot. But from what I'm hearing, it might not be smooth sailing for the acting AG. What can you tell us?

Yeah, good morning. This is certainly going to be a tightrope act from Todd Blanche. She needs to convince this entire committee to let him through to have this vote go to the floor of the Senate. And he can't lose a single Republican vote in order for that to happen. When it comes to the actual vote itself, you can only lose two Republican votes. And there are at least four Republicans we've heard from who've raised. skepticism with his confirmation as attorney general. All of this also comes as President Trump is certainly watching, making sure that his nominee, the fact that Todd Blanche is also his former personal defense lawyer, is answering questions to his likings. Really is going to be interesting to see how we walk that tightrope, both appeasing the senators who are skeptical while saying true and saying what President Trump in a way wants his attorney general to say. I mean, there's a lot of you know, hurdles for Todd Blanche to clear as far as the anti-weaponization fund, his handling of the Epstein files, his former role as President Trump's personal attorney, the Ghislaine Maxwell interview and transfer. You mentioned there are four Republicans that might not vote. What are those names? Who should we be looking at during these hearings? Yeah. So when it comes to the actual confirmation hearings, the two names that really stick out are John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Till's from North Carolina. These are two people who are basically done with their time in office. don't owe Trump anything. And have very skepticism with this nomination, in particular the creation and now lost plans, really, to create an anti-weaponization fund. John Cornyn saying that basically he wants to do the right thing, but he also wants to make sure that the attorney general will enforce the law, not just be Trump's personal defense lawyer. Thom Tillis, also saying that his vote will kind of depend on the future of this anti-weaponization fund. When the vote actually makes it out of committee, I think two other names to really be cognizant of. or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. She is someone who, you know, is in somewhat uncertain position and votes as somewhat moderate senator. And also Susan Collins, who has that very important in high stakes election come the midterms. She has said that she's not yet made a decision on Todd Blanche and is waiting to see how he performs during this confirmation hearing. So again, not that much of a margin for error. And as you mentioned, a ton of different controversies that he's expected to be asked about. anti-weaponization fund, these alleged weaponizations of justice, the indictment, for example, of James Comey, Letitia James, the attempt to indict six sitting members of Congress, the investigation in the Fulton County, subpoenas sent to folks like Tim Walz and Jacob Frye to the Newsoms, all of these things he could be asked about as well as his handling of the Epstein file, something that actually Pam Bondi during her interview with the House Oversight Committee basically said Todd Blanche was wholly responsible for. Peter Harlow is from ABC News joining us here on the Mark Aram Show. Is Todd Blanche's path made even tougher due to the fact that Mitch McConnell is still recovering? What's the procedure there? Does Mitch McConnell get a vote even though he's not on Capitol Hill? Yeah, it's a great question. I guess the two things that are kind of critical there are you really lose these two. two really critical Republican voices for some of President Trump's nominees. Between the sudden death of Lindsey Graham and the absence of Mitch McConnell, these two kind of reliable whips, people who could move votes, who could urge their colleagues to vote in the president's favor are just not present anymore. Lindsey Graham's sister now actually being sworn in and able to vote in Republicans' favor. So, you know, despite the fact that they still have those votes number-wise, it's unclear, though, how much support they're going to get in.

Gangnam style. 923 on the Mark Aaron show, taking me back to 2012 when this song went absolutely bananas, Gangnam style, performed by K-pop singer Cy. Yeah. This is insane. This became the most watched video in history before being surpassed in 2017 by Wiz Khalifa's See You Again video. Did Sai ever do anything? After you do that, you're pretty much done. I feel like if you're going to be a one-hit wonder, you just need to make sure that one hit is global. And for him, it was, I believe he continues his career in South Korea. It might not have the same global. Not North Korea. Well, I don't know. Let me just hear the beginning of that song again. I like that. I like the beginning. Anyway, welcome back to the Mark Aram show. Updating our top local stories. Good news for those in the need. of a high paying job. The new battery plant has opened in Georgia, Debra. What can you tell us? Yeah, so this is S.K. On, I believe, and Hyundai. They're both South Korean companies. They're going to be opening. I got a South Korean sounder now. That's right. All right. All right. They have joined together to open up a battery plant, a $5 billion battery factory plant in Barto, Berto. Berto? Berto. Berto, Berto, whatever. I like he put a little Spanish twinge, a Berto. Whatever. Yeah, Barto County. You never know. Northwest. Right. So they're, it's supposed to employ about 3,500 workers. They haven't really said how many they've hired so far. But of course, this all goes along with Georgia and our commitment to EVs and battery making and everything. So it's one more plant here. And again, I saw a serious decline, not just me. The market showed a serious decline in folks getting onto the EV market, especially when the tax credits were there. But now with increased unsettledness in the Middle East and we're seeing gas prices rise again, up over $80 a barrel, I could definitely see folks that have, you know, were never EVs. Maybe going, you know what, why not? Let's just try or at least a hybrid kind of vehicle. You don't have a long commute. An EV would work great for you. Absolutely. The only time, and again, this is a making a problem where there isn't one. But, you know, I've always been hesitant to get an EV because. Maybe once a year I'll drive around Christmas. I drive up to Connecticut with Soba. Don't you rent a car? Well, yeah, that's the thing now because I don't trust my current gas-guzzling machine. I rent a car anyway for that journey. So I should, I need a new car. I should probably get an EV. Or a hybrid at least, right? To start. I guess. I don't know. I really know nothing about any of that. You do need a new car. Sanjay's on my tush about it. He's like, why, why, dude? You need a new car. I know. I know. Well. Pay me more money, and I'll get a new car. I'm not food.

Insecure. I am automobile insecure. But that, so the plant is open though in Georgia? No, they've started working on it. Oh, okay. So they're like, they're in the building phases of it. So it should be open not soon, but in the next couple months here. That's great. 3,500 jobs. That's that. I love that. Love that. Georgia keeps being the economic engine that could. Speaking of gas, gas prices are going up. I should check the markets. They're about to open. The Texas crude oil is up 1.2%. It's at $80 a barrel now, which is still way. lower than it was earlier in the war uh that brent crude is closer to 90 dollars a barrel but we're going to see an increase in the price at the pump i am sure we've already seen a bump there more better time than today to win a 150 gas card a 150 dollar grocery card, and in the heat of the summer, a free HVAC inspection for my pals at reliable heating and air. Your chance to win that amazing grocery and gas giveaway coming up at 10, 12 a.m. right here on the Mark Aram Show. News weather and traffic in less than three with Cheryl. When we come back, we're going to check in with Bloomberg News. Some big earnings reports, some inflation numbers. We'll go in-depth next on the Mark Aram Show.

937 on the Mark Aaron show. Happy 80th birthday. Linda Ronstadt. Huge fan of Miss. She's 80 already. She looks great. Welcome back to the Mark Aram Show. Coming up in one hour, political annuals, Stephen Lawson, going to join us live in studio, talking all things Georgia politics. The markets just opened and green across the board for the Dow, the S&P, and the NASDAQ, oil is up 1.37%. I check the numbers when I get every morning at Bloomberg.com, and I found an interesting story there that I wanted to go in depth with us. Joining us live from Bloomberg News, it's Neil Sipes from New York City. Neil, good morning. Thanks so much for your... time. Hey, good morning. Great to be here. The story that caught my eye concerns Black Rock. And for a lot of Americans, Black Rock is now a four-letter word for a variety of reasons. But Black Rock just crossed $15 trillion. For those that are unfamiliar with Black Rock, why do they have their critics in and why is that $15 trillion number so important? Yeah, I mean, I think when you think about Black Rock, it's embedded in almost everyone's everyday life, whether they see it or they don't. I mean, this is the manager that's providing the funds that live in your 401k, in your IRA, in your self-directed brokerage account if you're investing in, you know, index funds, passive funds, active mutual funds. So it's providing, you know, the U.S. consumer with exposure to a broad basket of stocks typically in these funds and helping, you know, accumulate wealth over time. And I think The company, BlackRock, has become more embedded across both retail U.S. consumer and then institutional type clients over time, and they've sort of amassed that $15 trillion in client assets. And I think that's what you saw with the second quarter results today. is continuing to amass new dollars onto the platform from new and existing clients, as well as, by the way, of course, a pretty significant V-shaped recovery at the beginning of the second quarter tied to the tensions around the Middle East. The equity markets have performed pretty well so far this year. And obviously that helps that $15 trillion figure to get bigger. They're absolutely crushing it. And as you mentioned, that impacts a lot of the listeners' retirement accounts and mutual. But why are some folks enraged when you even just say Black Rock? Yeah, I think it's a little bit misplaced in terms of the public image. I think there's certainly some stories swirling around there that may or may not be accurate about what actually BlackRock's business model is. And I think a lot of that concern stems around the fact that that $15 trillion is all sort of invested into public companies across the U.S. and across the globe. So BlackRock has significant ownership.

in those funds, sort of indirectly, right, because it's ultimately the end investors' dollars that are sitting invested in that company. So I think that's a little bit where, you know, I would take a stand against that view and, in fact, endorse sort of, you know, the business model that BlackRock has because it effectively has unlocked, you know, investment access. And, you know, increasingly today we're seeing them push into newer products that customers are demanding. Neil Seitz from Bloomberg News joining us live in the market. So I guess the criticism that I hear from listeners is what BlackRock has done to the commercial, not commercial, residential real estate market. You know, I don't know if that is still an active part of their portfolio, but post-pandemic, during the pandemic, actively buying a lot of residential properties around the country. Yeah, and again, you know, I don't think that's the story here with BlackRock. I think, again, you know, the dollars that they're investing are essentially on behalf of customers that are, you know, selecting the Black Rock funds, again, through, whether it's through the Financial Advisor that's, you know, selecting a Black Rock or I shares fund, as they're known, you know, within that wealth relationship. or whether it's through your plan sponsored, through your employer in the 401K, those are typically investing into U.S. publicly traded securities of other large U.S. corporations, depending on the investment strategy. So I think, again, that's really the bread and butter of BlackRock, and that's where, you know, the vast majority of the actual revenue and profit here in BlackRock and the overall business operations is coming from. So 15 trillion massive number. Their stock lost a little bit though yesterday. Well, I think the stock is up very strong this morning. Okay. It was up 8% last I saw. And again, this is, you know, this is a market beta name. So when you think about, again, that $15 trillion in assets, you go back 5, 10 years ago. That was probably closer to, you know, somewhere between 5 and 10 trillion. So it's going to fluctuate pretty dramatically with the equity markets, which have, you know, frankly, been on fire, you know, barring a couple brief. air pockets that we've seen over the past couple of years, you know, 20% plus returns in the equity markets, that number continues to grow, right? We know it doesn't go up in a straight line. But, you know, when you see stronger markets, that tends to be a boon to BlackRock's business, as well as to, you know, U.S. investors like you and me, as well as institutional clients. wanting to allocate more capital to the U.S. equity markets in expectation for strong earnings growth, robust economy, seems like AI, all sort of lending itself to BlackRock scale. Great clarification, great insight. Neil Seipps, Bloomberg News. Neil, appreciate your time. Have a great day, my friend. Yeah, thanks a lot. There you go. All right, so stop flooding my inbox with complaints about BlackRock. I know people were mad because BlackRock came in and they were like.

buying up commercial i i can't point a finger but when i when my and i were house hunting we go to open houses and we'd get there and the real estate agent's like we've already had three offers above asking in cash yeah in cash yeah and it's like you can't beat that yeah i couldn't so i was like all right peace out A town down. Interesting. The markets are up, though. We got more good inflation news today and more good earnings news today. So the markets are up. Dow's up 180 NASDAX up 146. Don't want to neglect my crypto bros. Bitcoin's up $851 right now. Oil is also up at only 1.03%. Speaking of assets, the boomers. Our parents, our grandparents, if you're listening, you, a lot of you driving around are boomers. Apparently, you are flush with trillions of dollars of assets. But the next generation, Debra and I, we might not get to see all of that money. What's going on here? Probably not. So they're saying baby boomers have about $93 trillion in assets. And... If they're going to pass that down to their children, Gary Children, whoever, we probably are only going to see about $36 trillion. Now, that is still a lot of money. Whoa, but that's a huge drop. Exactly. Compared to the 93, it just seems like a drop is what you said. Is it taxes? No, part of it is saying, obviously, boomers are living a lot longer than generations before. So they're being very cautious on what they do with that money. Like, I was surprised at how much money my parents have socked away when we were kind of setting things up for them. Yeah. Very frugal. Very frugal. And, you know, they don't live an extravagant lifestyle or anything, but they want to make sure that it lasts too. So they have a good amount of that's the thing there, the fear of outliving your money. Right. And so that baby boomer generation is being very cautious on how they keep that money. Also, some of them deliberately still have a mortgage as a look at it away as an investment. But if they pass that investment, like if your parents decide to leave you a house, will that house actually have the evaluation? that they think it has when they pass it on to you. Your parents continuing their frugality. My parents are yoloing it. Good for your parents. I agree. 100%. A hundred percent. Like, I would love my family to do that. Yeah. They're not. And I fully endorse it. Like. you know, they've worked their whole lives. Yeah. They've earned every other comfort. They grew up quite differently than you and I got to. Yeah, absolutely. So I, yeah, you know, free ball it guys. Go go ahead. Yeah. Another thing is just higher retirement costs in general. Like right now, inflation is killing all of those at work regularly. Imagine being on a fixed income on how much that. you know, throws you it off trying to buy groceries or even cost of cars or anything like that. So that's where all the extra money is going. So they're saying that by the time boomers do pass it on, it's not going to be quite as great as it is. So 93 trillion. Spoiler alert to the Gen Z ears out there. I'm looking at you, Vin. The jet, your Gen X parents, Vinny's parents are my age. You're not getting a lot from us. We've been, we've been yoloing it for a while. So I want to, you know what, if quick.

Do a quick Google search through the news. So if boomers have 93 trillion in assets, see what Gen Xers have at assets. I bet it's a quarter of that. I mean, great, we're still earning. About 43. 43 trillion. Better than I thought. All right, Benny, maybe Vinny you're going to get a little something, something from Ma and Pop Dukes. Says real estate is our biggest. Yeah. Biggest thing. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. And Vinny, again, sorry, you'll probably never own a home. It's just the way it is. Airbnb, be it for life, my friend. Yeah, I thought I forgot about that. 2 a.m., you dragged me 50 miles to watch a chick play Mongeon with her grandmother at a retirement all. Yeah, you better lock it up. You better lock it up. No, you luck it up. You luck it up. Oh, I love that movie so much. That was Wedding Crashers on the stage in 2005. It premiered, starred Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn. Hullerious comedy. But the breakout star of that movie was Bradley Cooper. who played the jerk fiancé, and he became the bigger star than any of them. Also on this date, I know Vinnie, you are fascinated with the Mandela Effect. Yes. Deborah sent me the show sheet today, and I have just experienced a real-life Mandela effect. Oh. So, according to Deborah, on this date in 1997, fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot to death on the steps of his mansion in Miami Beach, Florida. You remember it? Vinny. Vinny wasn't alive. But you remember that. And I looked at it. I was like, no, that's the wrong date. 1997, that's too late. It had to been 1995. So I went and Google it, and the Google machine says it was 1997. Here's my Mandela effect. I know for a fact it happened in 1995 because I was working at an Italian restaurant in college in Poughkeepsie, New York, and one of my coworkers looked identical to the suspect Andrew Kunanan. Oh my gosh. Like his doppelganger, so much so that we had customers come in because when Versace was shot, the Kunanin mugshot was on or the picture was everywhere. Everywhere. And they're like, we need tips to find this guy. People came into our restaurant and called the police and said Andrew Kunanin is just serving my chicken parm. Wow. And so it had to have been 95 or 96 because in- You were here, were you here in Atlanta? I was here in Atlanta in 97. That is a, I swear to, I can call up four other people that worked at the restaurant with me. Cops would show up at the restaurant and be like, did Andrew Kunan just serve the linguine white clam sauce? And be like, no, I forgot the guy's name. I was in high school. It had to be 97. It was 95 or 6. It could be 96. I mean, I feel like the news would have it correct. I understand, but that's a Mandela effect, right, Vinnie? That's what it is. Yes. Freaky.

I was there. I was there when the cops came to Umberto's. Wasn't like, did you watch the Kunan TV show that they did on him? No, it was too close to home. I knew the guy. Wasn't he like caught for some other things too? Like, you know, some other like scamming and stuff? Maybe they were looking at him for that. I don't know. But I remember so vividly that the owner of the restaurant, I forgot the my co-worker's name. It wasn't Andrew. But he looked just like him. And let's just say his name was Trent. The waiter. The waiter's name was Trent. My boss, the owner of the restaurant, was like, Trent, take the week off. Just don't even come in here. Like, you're messing up the business. We got... Distraction. Yes. Like, customers would ask for different waiters. Be like, no, I don't want Coonan. Give me Sylvia or whatever. That's a legit Mandela effect right now I'm dealing with. 1997. It couldn't have been. I was in Atlanta. I was in Atlanta when I happened. Judy was the manager. I still keep in touch with Judy. I'm going to send her a DM and see if she has the same Mandela effect. Real quick, Vint, let's go to Capitol Hill. Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche now taking questions. If they're here today, I would encourage them to or their lawyers to meet with the FBI. We will 100% investigate. There are no closed investigations. If we learn today. If we learn next week, if we learn next month, that there's an individual that we can investigate, indict, and prosecute out of the Epstein files, you better believe it we will. And so we worked hard, the hardworking lawyers within the department to do the right thing with the, to comply with the act, and we did. And we'll continue to do so. That's Todd Blanche talking about the Epstein files. One of the many hurdles he's asked to clear it through confirmation. Outgoing Attorney General Pam Bondi basically said on her way out the door, Todd Blanche has been in charge of the Epstein files from day one. Take it up with him. And now senators are taking it up with him. He's going to be dealing with that, the anti-weaponization fund. There's going to be a ton of questions there. And he's going to be missing Mitch McConnell. which could have been a yes vote. So it's not guaranteed that Todd Blanche gets confirmed to be the new attorney general. We will monitor the confirmation hearing throughout the day here on 95-5. WSP. When we come back, major escalation in the Iran War. We're going to go to the State Department for the latest on that. And our grocery and gas giveaway coming up at 10, 12 a.m. Your chance to win a $150 grocery gift card, a $150 gas gift card, and a free HVAC and sp. from my pals at reliable heating and air. Your chance to win next right here on the Mark Air show.